Fisherman Mike Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 I shot today over some rape near Fairford not a brilliant day only the odd 20, 2 rabbits, two crows, and a pheasant... but I witnessed the biggest flock of Pigeons Ive ever seen... I know ive posted a couple of times in recent months with sightings of large flocks but this was huge.... The sky in the distance was black with them not blue. My farmer friend with me ( rare day off ) was bricking himself incase they set down in his solitary rape field 4 miles away.., he reckons they would have mown it flat in an afternoon. Ive counted estuary waders and big flocks of knots and the rule of thumb is try and estimate the number of birds in a square and then multiply that by how many squares which might cover the flock... If I said 7 to 8,000 birds I dont think I would be exaggerating. Funnily enough the fields I was shooting over extend to about 350 acres to rape in all directions and these birds were not interested in it at all. They seemed to be moving over a smaller rape field and some very dense woodland about three miles away. There were gas guns going off all day about 10 differnt sets on various farms but the birds have become accustomed to them and seem to just fly around for 5 minutes and then settle in the sitty trees. When I left the shoot about 3 I took a detour and found some of the huge flock about 1500 or so in a series of sitty trees along side a B road leading into Cirencester. Where the rest were going who knows but They looked like a swarm of Locusts. Only trouble with these massive flocks is they are virtually impossible to decoy. At about 11.30 in the morning I had about 150 birds buzz the deeks all at once and I missed with both barrels, but to be honest I couldnt define a clear target because I was bewildered....and i dropped my pork pie in the excitement. FM. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
digger Posted January 27, 2006 Report Share Posted January 27, 2006 going out on sunday as the farmer phoned me today to say there are,by his estimate,two thousand pigeons on his rape.got a call from my mate who is the shepherd there and he said he`s never seen so many pigeons. shall i write the days results now ? "got to the field,bloody cold,walked loads of birds off,fired three shots for one pigeon" but im ******** if that will put me off :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Zapp Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 (edited) Funny you should say that Digger, but the last 2 outings I have had have gone a bit like this: Walked 5-600 birds off the rape. Shot one Gone home after 4 hours. The wierd thing is, the flock seems to spend most of its time in an adjcent garss field, which is grazed be sheep and a bull (I dont have permisison for it). They show no interest in my deeks, move around a little, but arent really going for it anywhere. The only thing I can think that they are hitting on the grass would be chickweed or clover, but is it not a bit early for either? HEEEEELLLPP!!! Fisherman Mike, I can totally sypathise with your pie-dropping reaction, when the local big flock passes my was I go into a kind of sensory overload and tend to just gibber into the collar of my jacket while all those tasty woodies wander away! Pete PS Edited due to not having said all I meant to first time! Edited January 28, 2006 by PeteBrady Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
henry d Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 At the past 2 days cock shoots there has been hardly a pigeon seen let alone shot,but I have to brag I got the only one today :thumbs: .Normally there are a few hundred about and we can expect 5-10 in the bag. Soooooooooo send them BACK..........please :( Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
the hitman Posted January 28, 2006 Report Share Posted January 28, 2006 largest congregation of pigeon i have witnessed was about three years ago. my mate and i were walking back to the car after a morning shooting geese ,when we spotted this flock ,it was about 40yrds wide and 1mile long. the entire population from a large estate ,rough estimate 8000 . they landed on one of my rape fields,mad dash home for the pigeon gear,result 3 pigeons shot total anti climax.that field was never touched again by pigeons that year. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
mel b3 Posted January 29, 2006 Report Share Posted January 29, 2006 At about 11.30 in the morning I had about 150 birds buzz the deeks all at once and I missed with both barrels, but to be honest I couldnt define a clear target because I was bewildered....and i dropped my pork pie in the excitement. FM. missing with both barrels is one thing , but dropping a perfectly good pork pie is unforgiveable mike , was it melton mowbray ? Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Highlander Posted January 30, 2006 Report Share Posted January 30, 2006 Big flocks are good to look at but as most of us know they're a total waste of time from a decoying point of view. Only way you might get a bit of sport is to cover an area (a large area) with a number of guns (a large number) and keep the booggers movin' around. Don't let them settle, keep them on the move all day if necessary. Role on spring sowings. Quote Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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